NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — It’s too cold in Dallas if one of the city’s newest residents comes to Washington D.C. to escape the north Texas winter.

But that’s what former Florida Rep. Allen West did. At CPAC, the new head of the Dallas-based National Center for Policy Analysis, said today that it’s “just a little too cold” for him in his new home.

West was elected to the House in the Tea Party wave of 2010, but he lost his first bid for re-election to Democrat Patrick Murphy. That didn’t stop Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, from voting for him in the 2013 Speaker of the House election though.

West has run the conservative think tank since the start of this year. He said he’d been in Washington since Wednesday meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Still a Tea Party favorite, West held court in the hallway outside the CPAC main stage, chatting with reporters and posing for pictures. So consuming was the attention, he said, that he hadn’t had time to see any of the conference’s speakers.

“I’ve been trying to get down there for the past 30 minutes, and I can’t get two steps,” West said.

Without having seen any of them, West didn’t assess how the potential 2016 Republican nominees performed at the conference. But he said that Republican pick for president will likely be “someone who can delineate what the opportunity society is.”

“We want to have economics that lends itself to the opportunity for the American people to be able to take care of themselves, take care of their children,” West said.

He wouldn’t say if Texas’ two potential 2016 candidates, Sen. Ted Cruz and former Gov. Rick Perry, would present such a vision. He did offer them a piece of West family advice, though.

“My mother used to say there’s many a slip between the cup and the lip. And there’s a lot of things that can happen between now and 2016,” West said.

Sabo, who also spoke at CPAC on Thursday, is originally from Brownsville, Texas, and he said the Cruz posters were a fluke.

“I found out he was coming into town and I have friends who do posters of Marilyn Monroe with tattoos and James Dean shooting up heroin and I always thought, ‘I can do one of those. I can do it better,’” Sabo said.

Sabo said he’s not a big fan of politicians, but Cruz is different.

staff/Aubree Abril

Sabo displays a T-shirt with his tattooed image of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

“There’s something about him. I would always get a little bug in my ear, ‘Ted Cruz did what?‘ ‘Ted Cruz said what?’” Sabo said. “There’s something kind of nice about someone that pisses off the establishment, especially in Washington and they do it in a way that you agree with.”

He emphasized that Cruz had nothing to do with the image on the posters and he didn’t seek permission before creating it.

Sabo was a kid who loved watching political roundtables and he’s always loved politics. He married his talent for art and his passion for politics to create art that tells the side of a story he says isn’t being told

“If you decide to be a creative, you are just naturally inclined, or almost indoctrinated to the belief that you should be a liberal because you’re going to be a creative,” Sabo said.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, was slated to speak at the panel. But the Dallas Republican couldn’t break away from the Capitol because of votes to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas, missed the CPAC panel on the Export-Import Bank, but other panelists echoed his main talking points.

Though Hensarling is one of the bank’s biggest critics, the other panelists did their best to rip the institution to shreds in his stead.

Michael Needham, CEO of the conservative advocacy group Heritage Action for America called the Ex-Im Bank the “poster child for crony capitalism,” comparing it to the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” that became a symbol of Congressional earmarks and pork barrel spending.

The Ex-Im Bank helps foreign businesses buy U.S. goods at low rates, and offers insurance to protect American companies from losing money from overseas buyers who fail to pay. Congress has until June 30 to renew the bank’s charter.

But the bank has also been subject to fraud, and its detractors say it’s a form of corporate welfare for massive transnational corporations. And that makes it a favorite piñata for the free enterprise crowd at CPAC.

Needham and the other panelists spent the hour-long discussion shooting down Ex-Im supporters’ favorite arguments.

While small businesses that use the bank claim it’s a necessary tool, Needham pointed to the “astronomical” amount of money that Boeing and other major companies spend on lobbying to keep the bank open.

Small businesses are lobbying for it too. Over 600 small business leaders from around the country came to Washington on Wednesday to in support of the bank. They argued that shuttering the bank will cost thousands of jobs.

The director of Hensarling’s financial services staff, Shannon McGahn, took his place on the panel. She called shuttering the Ex-Im Bank “an achievable victory.”

“We’re trying to make the case that in the long run, this is not something that is helping the American economy and these companies,” McGahn said, who went on to call free enterprise economics “the greatest jobs and happiness engine.”

Hensarling’s committee has jurisdiction over the Ex-Im Bank’s reauthorization. Rep. Stephen Fincher, R-Tenn., introduced a bill to keep the bank open for another five years, but it’s unclear if Hensarling will give it a hearing.

Tim Carney of the American Enterprise Institute named multiple members of Republican leadership who oppose reauthorizing the bank, including House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Despite support from those heavy hitters though, Carney said that lobbying from big business might be too strong to overcome.

“They’re being pulled so hard by K Street in the opposite direction,” Carney said.

The formulation was far less awkward than Mitt Romney’s description of himself during the 2012 campaign as “severely conservative.” But it nonetheless left some CPAC attendees unsatisfied.

“What the hell is a reform minded conservative?” said Richard Calgaro, a retired hotel marketing executive from North Carolina, emerging from the hall. “I loved the Bushes. Don’t get me wrong. But what we need is a true conservative.”

On its face, Bush’s rhetoric was nearly as caustic as that of his rivals during a 25-minute appearanceat the Conservative Political Action Conference.

“This president has trampled the Constitution,” he said at one point.

But there was clearly resistance to him at CPAC. Earlier in the day, any mention of his name elicited boos.

Hecklers sporadically tried to interrupt Bush, who seemed unrattled by shouts of “common core!” and “amnesty!” and “you’re not conservative!” after he’d just insisted he is.

A few dozen attendees walked out in protest.

Mostly, they stayed polite as Fox News host Sean Hannity led the conversation.

On immigration, Bush expressed views that fall in line with conservative expectations: President Barack Obama, he said, exceeded his authority by shielding 5 million people in the country illegally from deportation. If elected president, he said, reversing such orders would be his first order of business.

Bush also sought to tamp down concerns from immigration hardliners about his view that people in the country illegally should get legal status.

“A great country needs to enforce the borders,” Bush said, agreeing that security should be the first priority and the emphasis. But he insisted, “The simple fact is there is no plan to deport 11 million people.”

Most GOP contenders avoid discussing plans for what comes next once the border is secure. Bush seemed unabashed. He called for tightening rules to make it harder for relatives of non-citizen immigrants to follow them to the United States. He defended his call for legal status, coupled with restrictions on public benefits, and a requirement to learn English.

On education, he embraced concerns about Common Core, which he has supported. High standards must be coupled with accountability, he said, but “all of us are deeply concerned with this president and this Department of Education,” adding that the federal government should stay out of creating curriculum.

Bush readily acknowledged that among the “committed conservative in this room” there were some doubts about his credentials.

But he said, with the right message and policies, Republicans can attract enough Latinos and young voters to win the White House, an assertion that drew applause.

“He tried to address this crowd’s concern about his position on Common Core, and I think he was fairly successful in doing that,” said David Lamdin, 70, of Arlington, Va.

“He’s too liberal for me,” said Bergmeier, 63, a self-employed contractor who prefers Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. “He’s too willing to work across the aisle. I want somebody that’s conservative and will stand by the conservative policies. He’s not going to do it.”

Nathan Pirovane, 22, studies geology at Central Connecticut State, and likewise remained dubious of Bush on Common Core. He prefers Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas.

“I’m not a fan of the government interceding on what should be state ground,” he said.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., on Friday.

update at 12:42pm

Lots more action at CPAC.

Real estate magnate Donald Trump, who toyed with a run in 2012, put the odds at 75 to 80 percent that he’ll actually do it this time. As a businessman, he said, it’s a big sacrifice.

“It’s very hard for a person like me to run, because I have a lot of things happening. A politician, they run. What do they do? They run, they run, they lose, they win, they run. With me, I give up a lot when I do this,” Trump said.

Like other speakers, he triggered loud boos merely by mentioning Jeb Bush.

“He’s in favor of common core. He’s weak on immigration… Remember his statement where they come over for love? That was his stance on immigration. I don’t see him winning. I don’t see there’s any way. You people are going to have to make your own choice. Who knows,” Trump said.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the most libertarian candidate in the 2016 crowd, packed the huge hall with far more fans than his rivals mustered. Many waved signs, in violation of CPAC rules. At one point they interrupted him with chants of “President Paul! President Paul!”

He hit Hillary Clinton hard over the Benghazi attack. “Her dereliction of duty should forever preclude her from higher office,” he said.

Rivals portray Paul as weak on foreign policy, given his non-interventionist leanings. He portrayed his caution as wisdom, boasting that he’d warned against sending weapons to Syrian rebels a year ago, because those weapons could end up in the hands of U.S. enemies, as ISIS has proved.

“It troubles me that we must fight against our own weapons,” he said.

Paul distanced himself from “people who believe we should never be anywhere outside our borders.” To him, national defense is the federal government’s central duty. But he indicated that he would only commit military force if Congress declares war.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, hoping to top his showing in 2012, took Paul to task, though.

“We need to lead the world. If America doesn’t lead the world someone else will,” he said.

original post

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Auditions continued this morning at CPAC with former Gov. Rick Perry telling conservative activists that “grave miscalculations” by the White House have undermined American security.

He vowed to eradicate the Islamic State terror group if elected president.

“ISIS represents the worst threat to freedom since communism,” Perry asserted. “We didn’t start this war. Nor did we choose it. But we will have the will to finish it.”

Thousands of people are at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National resort outside Washington. Sen. Ted Cruz spoke Thursday. Today’s highlight will be Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and current presumed front-runner for the 2016 GOP nomination.

Perry blasted the president for maltreating Israel even as it refuses to quash Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

“The administration’s policy of isolating Israel must stop,” he said.

And he suggested that Syrian strongman Bashar Assad is keeping close watch on… immigration and border politics in the United States.

“Our allies doubt us and our adversaries are all too willing to test us. No one should be surprised that dictators like Assad would cross the president’s red line, because he knows the president won’t even defend the line that separates our nation from Mexico,” Perry said.

“There are a lot of interesting ideas out there but not until you secure the border first,” he said.

Conservative talker Laura Ingraham warmed up the crowd with a scathing riff on Jeb Bush who, to many conservatives, is not truly one of their own. Ingraham asserted sarcastically that there’s hardly any point in resisting the coronation of Bush desired by the nation’s 50 wealthiest families.

“Common core, amnesty, giving Obama fast track trade promotion authority… the surveillance culture” – Bush has so much in common with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, they might as well run on the same ticket, Ingraham asserted.

She even suggested a bumper sticker: “Clush 2016 – What difference does it make?”

Bush gets a chance to woo CPAC attendees this afternoon. But Ingraham seemed to be alluding to him when she urged the crowd to be wary. The next nominee, she said, should be “not a conservative who comes to CPAC to check a box, but a conservative who comes to CPAC because they are a conservative.”

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio spoke before Perry. Like other potential 2016 GOP nominees turning up at CPAC, he hit hard on foreign policy.

He lamented that the Obama administration “treats the ayatollah of Iran with more respect than the prime minister of Israel.” And that the president rejects the idea of American exceptionalism.

“When was the last time you heard about a boatload of American refugees landing on the shores of another country?” Rubio said.

He took a barely veiled shot at Bush over his support for the Common Core education standards. What America doesn’t need, Rubio said, is a “national school board that imposes a national curriculum.”

But Rubio has his own vulnerabilities among conservatives, in particular his support for a bipartisan effort to overhaul immigration policy two years ago. The plan would have conferred legal status on millions of people in the country illegally.

He projected contrition, saying he’s learned that “you can’t even have a conversation about that until people believe… that future illegal immigration will be brought under control.”

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Young people hoping to hear something new from former Texas Gov. Rick Perry at CPAC said they were disappointed Friday morning.

“In this kind of environment you tend to see a lot of cookie cutter, typical speeches. You’re preaching to the choir here, so you don’t really hit any of the tough issues,” said Graham Ferguson, a high school student from Chicago who was attending the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Ferguson wished Perry had spent more time talking about education.

“I like Perry. I liked what he had to say, but I feel like it’s stuff that we already knew,” he said.

University of Virginia student Taylor Hewes said he thought Perry worked the crowd well, but also felt the content was lacking.

“I was excited that he addressed some tough questions on border security,” Hewes said, “but I was slightly disheartened when he didn’t discuss climate change at all when the question was given to him.”

Perry sidestepped a question about whether he agrees that human activity has altered the climate.

Texas native Sabrina Hines said she’s heard Perry talk about border security plenty of times. She wanted to know more about his plans for dealing with immigrants who are already in the country — another question he ducked, saying that while there are good ideas floating around, he won’t discuss that until the border is fully secured.

“I’d like to know more of his views on helping cater to that particular constituency,” Hines said. “What are the steps you need to take to become a citizen?”

Former Gov. Rick Perry talks with Jamie Jackson of The Daily Signal, a Heritage Foundation publication, after his speech at CPAC.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — After former Gov. Rick Perry made his 2016 pitch on the Conservative Political Action Conference main stage, he talked up his experience as a jobs creator and chief executive to radio row.

He told The Daily Signal, a publication of the conservative Heritage Foundation, that President Barack Obama “really doesn’t understand the process. He’s never run anything before.”

The subtext: Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history, has.

He contrasted his response to the Ebola crisis with the president’s. Perry chided Obama for selecting Ron Klain as the Ebola czar, saying that the choice was politically motivated. Klain, a former chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, was criticized for lacking a medical background.

staff/Michael Marks

Perry supporters listen to the former governor give an interview with CPAC.

Perry also repeating familiar refrains about his record as a jobs creator. He laid out his plan to spread the Texas Miracle nationwide by lowering regulatory and tax burdens.

“That’s the way you reach out. You give people more opportunity, they trust you,” Perry said.

Conservative luminaries get rock star treatment at CPAC, and Perry is no different. His backers, mostly young people, crowded around him, wearing t-shirts emblazoned with his signature glasses.

Perry worked the crowd, thanking the group of youngsters for their support.

Governor Scott Walker, R-Wis., waves to the crowd after his speech on Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Two Republican governors and potential 2016 presidential candidates, Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, defended their conservative bona fides on Thursday, touting populist records and slamming President Barack Obama in speeches at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Walker roamed the stage in rolled-up sleeves, and took a more fiery tone than the suit-clad Jindal. And though they may seek separation during the primaries, they took the same tack on Thursday by distancing themselves from Washington politics.

“I like to call it 68 square miles surrounded by reality,” Walker said, gesturing towards Washington D.C. on a large map behind him.

Walker’s tenure as governor has been bumpy at times. He survived a recall election in 2012, and eked out a victory in a hotly-contested and expensive gubernatorial race last fall.

He addressed those issues head-on in his speech, calling himself Democrats’ “number one target,” a line that drew heavy applause from the crowd.

Walker also highlighted some of his legislative accomplishments, including legalizing concealed handgun carry and imposing tougher voter ID regulations.

Walker has generated considerable momentum recently, including in Texas. A poll released this week by the Texas Tribune and the University of Texas had Walker running a close second to Sen. Ted Cruz in the Republican primary, more than ten percentage points better than former Governor Rick Perry. The poll queried 1,200 voting-age Texans, and had a margin of error of 2.8 percent.

Jindal failed to crack the top ten in that poll, and the crowd was more tepid toward him than Walker. His speech was more policy-driven and professorial in tone than Walker’s, addressing three key points: repealing the Affordable Care Act and the Common Core, and combatting the Islamic State.

Jindal said that “President Obama has showed himself incapable of being our commander in chief,” through how he’s handled the Islamic State threat.

Jindal also chided Republicans in Congress for being soft on the president. He urged them to keep campaign promises that they “would replace every single word of Obamacare.”

But Jindal also spent time addressing his origins. The son of Indian immigrants, Jindal said his parents regularly reminded him that he was “blessed to be born in the greatest country in the history of the world.”

And he called for new immigrants to fully “assimilate” into American society.

“There is nothing wrong with saying if you want to come to America, you should want to be an American,” Jindal said.

The Rick Perry campaign has incorporated those hipster glasses the ex-governor wears into a campaign logo at CPAC 2015 on Feb. 26, 2015.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Oh, those hipster glasses. Rick Perry started wearing them when he started rebuilding his image to project something more studious and intellectual than the “oops” persona everyone remembers from his flameout in the 2012 presidential campaign.

Rick Perry works the crowd at CPAC 2015 on Feb. 26, 2015.

Now he’s incorporated the look into campaign art — a red, white and blue logo on the back of “Rick” T-shirts worn by the swarm of college age supporters surrounding him at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Perry takes the stage at CPAC on Friday morning but arrived this afternoon. He quickly got swarmed by photographers and attendees.

“I want someone who their first order of business is going to be the full, unwavering repeal of Obamacare. They’re not just going to say they’re going to do it; they’re going to do it. There’s nobody else that I have confidence would do it,” he said, adding that he views the rest of the GOP field as tainted. “They’re working for the donor class.”

For him, “It’s Cruz or nothing.”

Duncan Rankin, a Texas A&M senior from McAllen who has been interning in the office of Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, volunteered with the “Cruz Crew” to hand out buttons and stickers.

Some people, he said, see Cruz as a “proprietor of gridlock…. I like his willingness to stand up for principle.”

Elsewhere in the cavernous hall, conference goers milled around a booth for Stand for Principle, a super PAC founded by Cruz’s friend and Princeton debate partner David Panton, an Atlanta investor. The group will hold a private party later Thursday with Cruz — originally a boat cruise on the Potomac River but moved to a hotel, according to PAC chairman Maria Strollo Zach, because the boat wasn’t big enough.

Federal campaign records show that Stand for Principle raised just $165,000 in its first two months, mostly from Panton.

“We were focused strictly on getting our sea legs and our foundation set, and getting ready for CPAC,” Zach said. “We are now ready to storm the halls with fund-raising as well as garnering the support that Sen. Cruz deserves.”

staff/Todd J. Gillman

The pro-Ted Cruz Stand for Principle super PAC held a raffle for a semi-automatic rifle at CPAC.

A steady stream of CPAC attendees stopped by to enter a drawing for an M&P15 SPORT, a semi-automatic tactical rifle from Smith & Wesson, or to collect a T-shirt that read, in part, “I Can Imagine TED CRUZ as President – a President Who Listens.”

“There’s a push for hearing from folks who really want him to run, because they want to see bold leadership. They’re ready. They’re hungry for bold leadership,” Zach said.

In his speech, Cruz offered all manner of red meat.

staff/Todd J. Gillman

Duncan Rankin, right, is an Aggie who volunteered to hand out Ted Cruz buttons at CPAC 2015 at National Harbor, Md., on Thursday. Some people, he said, see Cruz as a “proprietor of gridlock…. I like his willingness to stand up for principle.”

“Hillary Clinton represents the corruption of Washington,” he asserted.

He positioned himself as a Washington outsider and pulled few punches. Without naming names, he blasted GOP leaders as hard as he blasted Clinton and President Obama – including a fellow Texan, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn – for caving this week on the fight to kill Obama’s immigration actions.

Funding for the Department of Homeland Security runs out on Saturday. With a partial shutdown looming, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed to vote on full funding, while holding a separate vote, likely doomed, to cut funding related to immigration. On Wednesday, Cruz joined 97 other senators in approving cloture, allowing a Senate vote on that tactical approach.

“Unfortunately, Republican leadership is cutting a deal with Harry Reid and the Democrats to give in on executive amnesty,” Cruz said. “They’re not listening to you…. In Washington, K St. and Wall St. love amnesty… and there is a mendacity about Washington. They want to take a show vote but they don’t want to actually follow through on what they say.”

Ed Welch, a CPA from Albany, N.Y., left the speech impressed. “Loved it,” said Welch, who arrived at his first CPAC thinking Cruz had alienated too many people to have a legitimate shot in 2016. “I’m seeing him more as a Reaganesque figure.”

“Look, Reagan was despised by the Republican Party,” said Welch’s friend, Ed Courelle, a sales manager, also from Albany. Even if Cruz is a longshot, he said, “I’d rather vote for someone who stands for something.”

Cruz called Obamacare a train wreck and joked “that’s actually not fair to train wrecks.”

At the top of his agenda, he said: “No. 1 repeal every blasted word of Obamacare. No. 2 abolish the IRS.”

He reiterated his critique of a weak Obama foreign policy and offered a simple policy for dealing with the so-called Islamic State terror group: “We kill the terrorist leaders before they kill us.”

Cruz spoke for about 20 minutes, a third of it in a Q&A with Fox News host Sean Hannity, who asked if Cruz believes he’s eligible to serve as president, given his birth in Canada.

“Look I was born in Calgary. My mother was an American citizen by birth. Under federal law that made me an American citizen by birth. The constitution requires that you be a natural born citizen,” he said.

Christie spent 20 minutes on stage before Cruz, in a Q&A with conservative host Laura Ingraham. She asked if his fiery temperament is a good match for the presidency.

“Explosive, short tempered, hot head,” she said, ticking off descriptions offered by some of his friends and noting his “sit down and shut up” habit.

“The word they miss is passionate,” Christie said. And, he said, “Sometimes people need to be told to sit down and shut up.” It would help in Washington, he added. “So much ridiculous stuff gets spewed, especially out of the White House. Somebody should say it’s time to shut up.”

Christie shrugged off his plunge in the polls.

“Is the election next week?” he said, noting that at this point in 2007, Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton were the respective front-runners and neither ended up getting nominated. He also shrugged off Jeb Bush’s money and pedigree – and lead in the polls.

“If the elites who make backroom deals decide who the president’s going to be, then he’s definitely the front runner,” Christie said.